News: LYC UPDATE 1-Backed by Australia govt, Iluka greenlights $750 mln rare earths refinery, page-33

My personal opinion on the recent handouts to developers of critical materials is that the monies insulate and prevent them from Chinese takeover as well as Chinese offtakes. I obviously don't know that and I don't know how to determine if true or not, but the funding seemed preemptive to me.

The value of REE that has already been lost to the Chinese CCP is immense. They have claws into many of the biggest projects. Their long presence in Greenland is especially concerning to me.

"China" is Lynas's only competitor; any non-Chinese entity hoping to develop a mine that is not already controlled by China should be considered (imo) as a co-developer with Lynas in the role of building the ROW REE-enabled market. Peerlessness demands peers. Single source, single mine, single refinery; none of that is good for the long-term market; long term supply security is essential.

REEs are the very definition of a long-term market; the value is certain and there is no substitute on the horizon and there is no scientific basis on which t expect one (just the opposite, in fact). The true monetary and geopolitical value of DyTb-(LaCe)NdPrFeB is just beginning to be realized by the Chinese.

I have ZERO concern for REE magnet demand destruction at current prices which I predicted year after year would trend higher; we are not there yet; I expect they will double from present in the next two years and that the value proposition will remain unaffected. You cannot compete without REEs.